Miter Saws Reviews

I bought this very saw less than 2 years ago, and it has turned out to be a nightmare. Don't buy ANYTHING that says Wilton on it, or from WMH tool group! Lowe's carried their tools for about a millisecond. I got suckered and bought what seemed to be a pretty nice mitre/chop saw for around $100. Apparently there is a very good reason Lowe's dropped this brand almost immediately. I called Lowes and they told me they had a lot of returns, and that it just didn't sell well to begin with. Now we know why.

It has turned out to be complete garbage.

I have used it VERY LITTLE, possibly for 3 or 4 projects. The saw is still in excellent physical condition, and should still work great. Here's what happened yesterday. I pulled it out of storage to use to chop down some HALF INCH by 6 inch pallet boards, that had already been stripped of all nails, and I was cutting away from the nail holes to begin with. It was working just fine and everything was uneventful. Then it started making a sort of grinding bearing noise. I made another cut or two and noticed sparks flew from the motor on the second cut. I tried 1 more cuts, and the motor CAUGHT FIRE. I obviously stopped using it and watched. With it off, there was still a small flame burning in the motor near where the magnetic coils are, and it wasn't about to go out. If I hadn't had blown it out I probably would have had a plastic fire and then a bigger fire on my hands.

What I have now is basically a $100 piece of crap, that didn't even get maybe an hour of use over the year or so I've had it. Wilton tells me that their tools NOW have a 2 year warranty, but that since my unit is blue, it's obviously an older unit and until this year they only had a 1 year warranty.

So, if you want a decent tool and you're not going to use it very much, and want it to last, AVOID Wilton like the plague!

Junk, junk, junk.

Poorly made machine!!!

Home Use Only

The person from Boston freaked out about a missing dust bag and wants to return the saw. All he had to do is call WMHTool Group at their 1-800 number to get one. Geesh

I disagree with the first reviewer. Read what I have to say about this saw.

The quality of the Wilton model 99164 saw is good and I am impressed. The company is reputable and has been around for 50 years. Go to their website. (...) Being a finish carpenter and furniture maker, the saw is precise as you can get. I rely on making precise miter cuts at various angles from all types of hardwoods. The preset common angles are repeatable every time. Just loosen the miter handle, depress the thumb latch and select the angle. I can cut a 90 degree, switch to a 22 1/2 and come back to a 90 degree with confidence. I check my cuts with machinist squares for accuracy.

This saw is very well constructed from nicely finished solid cast aluminum. The main arm bearing has no play or backlash whatsoever. This is very important. The 15 amp motor is plenty good. When I bought mine, I did not know it had an electric brake. That feature is a plus. My only complaint is that the handle is verticle. My overall rating is a 4 because of this reason.

Among the problems stated you see those "V" shaped guides that run on the two horizontal tubes... There plastic and they break.
I have had this piece of junk for several years I put it away some time ago. Yesterday I had one small piece of scribe mould to cut on site, dug out this saw and sure enough the front support broke and soon there after the rears let go to.
Looks like a solid accurate saw its NOT!
Don't buy it.
Should be taken off the market Jorgensen has too good a name to have it associated with this kind of junk.

Same problem as others, miters are off enough to make precision cuts a frustrating process unless you are very nearsighted or have lots of wood putty to fill miter gaps. Operating a manual miter takes some finesse. But no matter how you handle this saw, grip it, adjust it, bend it, or stroke it, the saw refuses to cut a true vertical 90, making this a unintended compound saw and the folks at Jorgensen don't even charge extra for this ability, lol. Stanley is worse, and Nobex still reigns supreme. Thank God *someone* can make a decent miter saw! There was a time Jorgensen saws were pretty accurate, but that time has past.

The saw is great, I have used it many times on many projects BUT I now need a new blade and can't find one???
Any help out there?

Received it as a gift - like most reviewers I agree that the screws are wrong, they don't fit the slot properly and make it difficult to insert the slider into the table guide. I will probably throw it away and not dissapoint my daughter.

Also one of the turn-screw threads was filled with plastic - took me fifteen minutes to clean it out enough to thread it on.

The push stick is rounded slick plastic and I would have to put some rubber or something on the end of it before trying to use it.

The cheap plastic has sharp edges and must be trimmed and cleaned up for any sustained use.

DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY ON THIS PRODUCT

Don't bother!! The screws never tightened down into the table saw groove. The product is useless. Just sorry that I wasn't smart enough to send it right back when I got it. Live and learn

The price seems good, but it's still not worth it. Product is flimsy and poorly made. I bought it for use with a Craftsman table saw and it will not fit into the slots in any useful way. The slopy fit probally makes this product dangerous.

I don't know why anyone still uses these things. Everyone owns a vacuum, and if the nozzle doesn't match up perfectly we all know how to use duct tape.

Some people get the bag to work; others have problems. But in the end it's the guys with the vacuum hooked up to it that end up walking away with little or no cleanup!

If you lost it and are looking to replace it, forget it and go buy a new blade with the money you save.

I use the saw with out a bag. I use a piece of 90 abs to direct the sawdust into a rubbish bin or just pile it up where it lands and clean up at the end of the day.

I have a DW708, and it picks up dust so effectively that it gets annoying having to empty the bag so often.

This light leaves a lot to be desired. The neck needs to be stiffer so it doesn't droop and the power needs to be increased for a stronger bulb. The amount of light provided by this lamp is weak.

The saw is great, the light needs a little work. Unlike what the picture implies, the light fastens at the very back of the saw. The light extends out straight to the front of the saw. Given how far out it has to stretch and with the weight of the light fixture attached, it should be stiffer. After running the saw for a while, the light actually starts to droop down. You have to keep pushing it up. The size of the light head is nice as you can get close to your work without the fixture obstructing your view. The downside of the fixture size is that the bulb is difficult to screw in. There's no room to get your fingers around the bulb. I finally taped a piece of masking tape to the front lens so I could screw it in. I'm not looking forward to replacing the bulb, I don't know how I would loosen it. The unit is made in China but is well constructed. Nothing sloppy about it. Bolts on the saw perfectly using the two rearmost bolts that are already on the saw. The hex key they provide could be a little better fit but it did work. All in all the concept is a good one. It's a nice accessory to have, makes cutting a lot easier. I hope Dewalt will re-engineer it and bring it up to the standard of their scroll saw.

I've used the light for several project so far & it does give off adequate light. But, the on-off switch is kinda rickey dink. If you don't turn it just right, it doesn't work. It attached to the DWS788 scrollsaw very easily using two of the screws already mounted on the saw. There is no question that the light is adequate but they should change the on-off switch.

This is a sturdy little unit but it does not have stops for 90 degrees, 45 degrees, etc.

Taking into account the other review, I would not recommend this unit to a friend asking advice.

Potential users: Click on the "See Larger Picture" link. Notice that (threaded) hole on the flat part at the top? That's where the handle should be, the handle that gives you oomph to push and guide your stock with the miter gauge. Makes the cutting LOTS easier and more accurate with larger pieces!
Jeez, including this handle with the gauge couldn't have cost 'em more than a couple bucks--but they don't. Nor do they give you any way that I could find to locate and order one.

I AM A FINE CARPENTER SPECIALIZING IN HIGH END KITCHEN CABINET INSTALLATIONS. I DEAL WITH ALL PRE FINISHED WOODS AND CROWN, IN OTHER WORDS....NO PUDDY!! I LOVE THE SAW AS AN IDEA FOR THE IDEAL. HOWEVER, AFTER RETURNING TWO SAWS BECAUSE THE SPINDLE HAD A WABBLE IN IT MAKING MY CUTS LOOK LIKE A PIRAHNA ATTACKED MY BOARD, I FOUND ONE WITHOUT THIS PROBLEM. IVE HAD IT FOR ABOUT A YEAR NOW (JUST TRYING TO GET MY $700 WORTH OUT OF IT) NOW IM CONVINCED THAT THE CASTING OF THE BASE IS WARPED. WHEN IT READS SQUARE AT A 90 AND THEN YOU GO TO 45 IN ITHER DIRECCTION, THE BLADE IS NO LONGER PERPENDICULAR WITH THE BASE. IVE SPENT COUNTLESS HOURS WITH THE ADJUSTMENTS TO ONLY FAIL. THIS IS A GREAT SAW IF YOU ARE A FRAMER. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE PROFESSIONAL FINISH CARPENTERS, THIS SAW NEEDS TO GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD.

Beware!! This handsome tool stand was not designed for the framing or trim carpenter. The flimsy catches for the roller stands will not hold up to many set-ups.A fine example of a great idea destroyed by a cost-cutting designer.

I have the original bar for the Accu-Miter and thought I would upgrade to the "new and improved" bar. Was I surprised when I found out the new bar was not tapped for the screws that hold the indexing pin on. Looks like the factory overlooked this "small" detail. Theoretically you screw the allen head screws down to tighten and spread the nylon spacers on the bar to make them expand and fit the miter slot. I tightened these screws until the allen wrench bent and the nylon spacers didn't spread a hair - another good idea in theory but not in reality. I will keep the bar, but I can see that it will take some "rigging" to get to work as advertised. Let the buyer beware.

The good:

- Did a kitchen splash back job and a full-tile job for a bathroom -- 200 square feet of porcelain tile. It cuts very hard tile slowly, but on softer tile, it cuts quickly.

- Relatively inexpensive for a wet saw.

- Sufficiently light to make transport by one person, easy.

The bad:

- Water flow to the blade was not sufficient in my estimation, so I slightly modified the water output ports near the blade to increase the flow. Even though this only took 20 minutes, this is not something a customer should have to do.

- This tool is very loud; ear protection is needed; especially if used indoors.

- Lots of water is sprayed to the rear of the blade; M-K's water containment system doesn't work. Having to refill the tray is the least of it, since the dirty water makes a mess in your work area.

- When cutting large tiles (12" and up), some water pours off the top of the tile being cut onto the floor, to the right of the machine.

- The guide rail gets dirty, which keeps the cutting table from sliding easily. Not a big deal, but it should work better.

- The water pump clogs too quickly. You have to clean the filter to restore flow.

- The aluminum `stop' accessory for the table is so crudely made; it is difficult to get it square to the table. (It is used when you want to make several tiles of the same width.)

The ugly:

- Toward the end of the bathroom tile job I did, the gears were making a very-noisy grinding sound. Tried to use it for another small job after that, and the tool died completely. (Click on Customer Photos above to see the striped worm gear.) The blade no longer turned, rendering the tool useless. The opposing gear was also ruined. Unfortunately, my saw warranty had expired; and since the replacement parts were so expensive, the M-K saw was discarded. At least it worked long enough to finish one big job.

Summary:

Why did the tool gears strip so quickly? Probably due to the strain on the tool of cutting a large number of porcelain tiles (versus softer tiles). The motor appears to turn in the 24,000-rpm range; which is reduced via its worm gear to around 3400 rpm at the blade. The high motor speed and worm gearing is why the tool is loud. The worm gear design results in gear failure if the tool is under any serious stain, such as many hours of hard-tile cutting. That is, the drive gear (shown in the photo) is only one-half inch in diameter, with 7 teeth in total, so no more than two teeth are fully engaged in the opposing gear at any time. When those teeth are stressed beyond the design goal (minimal tool use and/or softer tiles), metal fatigue occurs; keep cutting, as with my bathroom job, and the gear teeth are worn down to the point the tool fails. My tool failed within 20 hours of total use.

This consumer-grade saw is an OK tool for the occasional do-it-yourselfer, as long as it's not used very much and you limit cutting of hard tiles (marble, granite, porcelain, concrete, etc.). Although brick and concrete pavers (e.g., 2" thick) can be cut with quality wet-saws, do not use this saw for that purpose, as those products would quickly ruin the worm gear.